Orecchiette with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce & Parmesan Cheese

Here’s a great meal for you guys just in time for the weekend! Orecchiette with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Parmesan Cheese. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, I assure you it’s not! Since I made THIS recipe, I have been in love with roasted red pepper anything. I just fell in love with the flavor red peppers had after you roasted them. Now, let me warn you: if you don’t like red peppers, then odds are you won’t like this. And, for the record, I think you are crazy if you don’t like them. Amen.

Ok, so onto the recipe:

Let me break it down for you. The orecchiette are the ear shaped pasta I used. Any pasta will do. I saw them at the store, thought they looked cute and got a box. The end.

The pasta sauce is pretty simple too. You roast your red peppers either on the eye of a flame on your gas cook top or under the broiler in your oven. I used the latter. It takes a little longer then the stove top method, but works nonetheless. Then you pop them into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let them cool. This will allow you to peel the charred skins right off! It’s pretty awesome. So you peel the skins, take out the seeds and chop. Meanwhile, saute some onions and garlic in butter. Then add the roasted red peppers. Cook until everything is soft and then throw it into the food processor with the remaining ingredients and puree. That’s the sauce. See? Not so intimidating!

My favorite way to eat this sauce is with thick slices of fresh french baguette. Oh mama. Is that good! My second favorite way to eat this sauce is with pasta and lots of parmesan cheese. I splurged a little bit and bought a small hunk of imported italian parmigiano reggiano to use specifically for this recipe. Man, is that stuff worth the money! So, naturally, I shaved half of that hunk onto my pasta. Please tell me you all love cheese as much as I do!

The end result is a beautiful beautiful thing. I love this stuff and could eat it all the live long day.

One quick note: the sauce needs salt. I wrote on the recipe that you should season ‘to taste’, however, I have found that it needs a little bit of a heavy hand to make it reach the wonderful realm. So, heads up for that.

Have a great weekend! 2 weeks today, and my husband will be home! WOOT!

3/4 pound Orecchiette pasta {or any other pasta you like}
good parmesan cheese, for the top
fresh basil {optional, however, I found it to be a nice compliment to the sauce and the cheese}

Directions:
Roast red peppers either under a hot broiler pan or over the eye of a gas flame cook top. You want to char the skin of the pepper without burning the flesh underneath. Turn as you go, keeping a close eye on them. Once all the peppers have blackened, place them into a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let them sit until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.

In the mean time, over medium heat, saute onions and garlic in butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Peel red peppers, remove stems and seeds, chop into large pieces and place into skillet with onions and garlic. Remove from heat. Place vegetables into food processor bowl with cream cheese, cream, salt and pepper. Puree sauce until smooth, or to your preferred consistency.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and coat with sauce. Top with parmesan cheese and fresh basil.